Gus Confirms Pre-Season Rumour

There have been strong rumours of late that suggested Sunderland would be off to Portugal for pre-season but with the club typically silent on our pre-season plans there has been no official confirmation.

Gus Poyet has given an interview to Uruguayan news outlet Ovación, where he discusses everything from the upcoming World Cup to his retirement plans, in the interview he also confirmed the rumour that the club would be off to Portugal during pre-season;

Now let's go to pre-season training in Portugal on charter flights and in good hotels.

If we had gone down we had to go on cheap flights of 20 pounds and the entire equipment would have to travel across Europe in van to get from England to Portugal.

Poyet then went on to say that he is looking long term with Sunderland and wouldn't be happy just surviving in the Premier League;

I had a year of contract, signed for two. I like to plan long term.

I would hate to get to the next year and be in this same situation, where the only thing I did was to live.

Although he is planning long term with Sunderland, he also made it clear that in an ideal world he would get to manage Real Zaragoza and the Uruguay national team before he retires, whenever that might be;

How do I picture myself at 60? Retired, having directed my Zaragoza, then the National team, relaxing with my family, in Punta del Este, reading a book and playing golf.

But all coaches say they will retire at 60 and then keep it up to 70, and then 70 to 80.

With a pre-season trip to Portugal confirmed, we will have to wait for the dates and opponents to be officially announced but it's believed to be scheduled for the end of July. Stay tuned to Roker Report throughout the summer as we bring you full details of this and all the other pre-season details once they are officially announced.